Report Title:

DOE; Lavatories

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

63

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO IMPROVE STUDENT LAVATORIES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

 

WHEREAS, according to the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the following diseases and parasites can be contracted from unsanitary toilets: chancroid, chlamydia, trachoma, genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea, granuloma, inguinale, scabies (itch mite), pediculosis (crab louse), syphilis, and urethral and vaginal infections; and

WHEREAS, according to a survey taken at the 2000 Student Leadership Workshop, 88 percent of student leaders said that their schools were grossly lacking in restroom necessities such as toilet paper, toilet seat covers, and stall doors (for privacy); and

WHEREAS, according to 1998 and 1999 surveys of Hawaii secondary school students in all seven departmental school districts and in the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools:

(1) Ninety-two percent of students said that their school bathrooms were not clean;

(2) Eighty-four percent of students said that their school restrooms were not adequately stocked with toilet paper;

(3) Ninety-two percent of students said that their restrooms were not adequately stocked with hand soap;

(4) Ninety-two percent of students said that their restrooms were not adequately stocked with paper towels;

(5) Ninety percent of students said that the locks on their restroom stall doors did not work or were nonexistent;

(6) Ninety percent of students said that their restrooms were grossly lacking in cleanliness and sanitary materials; and

(7) Ninety-three percent of female students said that their school restrooms were not equipped with receptacles to dispose of feminine hygiene products;

now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education (DOE) is urged to improve student lavatories in the public schools; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE is urged to consider establishing a daily maintenance schedule for student lavatories to ensure that:

(1) Toilets, urinals, basins, shelves, and related hardware are cleaned with cleaner-disinfectants;

(2) Mirrors, partitions, walls, and stainless steel and chrome surfaces are spot-cleaned;

(3) Floors are swept and mopped with a cleaner disinfectant;

(4) No water is left on the floor;

(5) Waste receptacles are emptied; and

(6) Toilet paper, towels, napkins, and soap are replenished as needed;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE is urged to consider establishing a weekly maintenance schedule for student lavatories to ensure that:

(1) Stains and build-up from toilets, basins, urinals, fixtures, and floors are removed;

(2) Floors and walls are scrubbed or foamed-down with a disinfectant;

(3) Glass-in doors and partitions, walls, doors, and ledges are spot-cleaned as needed;

(4) Accessible areas of resilient floors are spray-buffed to remove scuffs and marks;

(5) Light fixtures are cleaned;

(6) Resilient floors are stripped, cleaned, and waxed;

(7) Burned-out lights are replaced as needed;

(8) Floors are spot-cleaned;

(9) Furniture is cleaned and polished; and

(10) Window ledges, sills, furniture, bookcases, etc., are dusted;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE is urged to consider cleaning all lavatory windows at least once a year; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE is requested to report back to the Legislature at least twenty days before the convening of the 2002 Regular Session on the steps it has taken with respect to this Concurrent Resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education and the Chairperson of the Board of Education.